O My America by Sarah Wheeler

I loved this book, it has very readable prose, is well organised and researched. Wheeler chooses/finds six women in their middle years who, in the 1800's, travel to and across America; They have different characters and backgrounds, different reasons for leaving England  but all posses courage, a pioneering spirit and great energy. Its a very good way to learn history and geography, and to discover that modern, brave and adventurous women have been around for a  long time.

I especially liked the insights into the development of the American culture. There was a thread in all the stories about how the people were so proud of ‘equality’ during a time when slavery was commonplace and about the dislike by the English of the American obsession with money.

It is a bonus that Wheeler adds a little, but not too much, of her own story as it chimes with that of her ‘girls’ as she calls them, and thus writes of both the old and new places from the east to west coasts of the New World.

Well worth reading –non fiction stories every bit as good as fiction.

Wednesday’s writing …

is not yet happening but lots of other things are and as I’ve said before, it is the other that leads to the writing or at least it should. Distractions today included a very good yoga class and a couple of hours in the warm sunshine tidying up the garden. 

And there was good news in my inbox this morning: an email from Mardibooks see www.mardibooks.com with acceptance of a poem for their latest collection. As always that’s very encouraging, especially good as I start two new online poetry courses. I’ve drafted poems for the first assignments and have everyone’s else’s in a folder to read and comment on. So interesting to see how we each take the same assignment in different directions.

Its been a challenge to find time these last few days to write anything other than poetry . I seem to be able to get what’s in my head as a possible poem down in short glimpses of time more than I can get to grips with a possibly lengthier piece of prose. So I have a sort of plan to find somewhere to do that,  like a cafe, or the bench by our local ponds -weather permitting! There are places on the web asking for essays and flash fiction and it would be good to return to writing more of that. I’ll report back later ……

Meanwhile, I had my first taste of birding with the local RSPB group on Sunday. A good start to my new interest –lots of helpful people who offered me a look down their scopes so I could see more than a small dot in the distance, and then use my bins to get almost as good a view in my own time. I guess by now you’ve spotted the new language … not as challenging as learning French but there’s definitely a birding lexicon and those essential bits of kit all have birding nouns.

A new week …

… happens regularly, I hear you say, but without a working week structure to life it can be easy to forget that the weekend has gone and another Monday is here.  This week my Monday is a day after a late night so I’m being gentle with myself as evening spins in.

Arrived back home way after my bedtime last night after a wonderful evening at the O2 enjoying the music of Leonard Cohen and his musicians. For a very big tent that place has great acoustics, every word and note was clear –and LC certainly gives out lots of both, and has such incredible energy.

It also feels like the beginning of a new term of poetry as the new Poetry School on-line learning site is now live. I managed to register and access the work for my Monday evening course ‘Walking the Line’, so now its time to start thinking about a poem for assignment one. Presently a narrative poem  with urban roots and at least 20 lines and 3 stanzas seems a tall order. But then I remember this can be a draft!   It is surprisingly easy to forget that writing poetry takes time and from odd beginnings often some worthwhile work proceeds.

Perhaps I’ll find inspiration as I cut the fabric for my new quilting project … I need lots of very small pieces so a mind occupying task will be useful to stem the boredom that repetition can induce.  Or maybe I’ll think of something at yoga. New classes began last week and the stretches and back bends are already having a positive impact on my back … and my first shoulder stand for a while was OK.

Now to an evening with my book … and some sleep.

Time & space are the real gems

I had a wonderful day yesterday out and about In Lewes with a dear friend. Our purpose was to visit a Textile exhibition called Pizazz at the Hop Gallery, see http://www.hopgallery.com. We lingered over the inspiring work of this small group of textile artists –clever hands and inventive minds were evident.

Then we meandered amongst the book shops, art shops etc. And, of course, as we are quilters, we spent a considerable time in the wonderful haberdashery shop –an Aladdin's cave of fabric, buttons, threads, ribbons, all sorts of notions.

Our pace was slow, with stops for morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea (yes, scones with jam and cream), we went to some places alone and others together –there was a flow to the day that felt like a blessing.

Perhaps you are asking what has this to do with anything. Well, of course, it has to do with that time and space, and the inspiration and motivation, I certainly need for my own hands and mind to create –be that a plan for a new quilt or my next poem, I think of it as incubation … and as someone who too often hurries too much, a day like yesterday is a reminder of how important a part of my writing and other creative interests that is. And also a reminder of how often I forget to go slow, to look around, to stop.

Of course, every day can’t be like yesterday, so now onwards with my fledgling poem which might include something about the bird imprint on my window and I’m making progress with a bird pattern to decorate some book wraps made earlier this summer.

The first one I made looked much more like a fish –so that was good practice especially for poking out the beak, and a reminder that I’m allowed to make mistakes.

the second is Ok but footless and applique bird feet is beyond me so I need to revise my very

novice embroidery skills.

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As for the poem, its taking shape in my head, its growing, quite what its growing into I rather like not knowing yet. I do know that the way Lewes as a town nests at the edge of the South Downs, and  the way our journey there and back was threaded with missing road signs, all that is now mixing with the feather on my door step, the imprint on my window.

Comments welcome, and please let me know what inspires you, how do you find time for time and space for space?

Book review: The Red House by Mark Haddon

I guess The Curious Incident etc.etc. is a hard book to follow, and for me, nothing else I’ve read by Mark Haddon matches the quality of that book. So, sadly, I was disappointed with The Red House. For me this is a book that lacked person authenticity, it kept trying to convince me that the characters mattered, that what took place on a family holiday was worthy of the prose but did not quite do it.

I found myself wondering why a red house, why this and why that as character after character was examined and found a little bit wanting.  Yes, this is what happens when families spend time together, especially holiday time together, but all at once, mmm, I’m not so sure.

I liked the lack of resolution –after life is like that, and the setting felt real, indeed it was real, and the description of Hay on Wye appealed. Overall, though, I was reminded of comments often made about my poems –’you need to focus on one thing’ and ‘don’t try to bring everything into one piece of writing’ … this book had too much width and insufficient depth to make it a good read.

Capital by John Lanchester

Lanchester rarely disappoints and certainly not with this  ‘state of the nation’ or at least a proportion of the nation highly readable book.

The cosmopolitan residents of one London street are the cast, the impact of the recent global financial crisis is part of the backdrop and a five word message the catalyst.  Lanchester takes these in his masterly way and creates a funny, moving and very clever story.

Not much else to say really, except Buy or Borrow and Enjoy.

The importance of place

At last I am at home again, this time in England, after a week at a conference in Prague and few days relaxing with family in the Brecon Beacons, with days in between celebrating Anne’s 70th  birthday and family wedding anniversaries. 

Fortunately on my second visit to Prague I found places to like, away from the tourist sites –green parks, a quiet galleries and an iconic graveyard.  So I’ve came away from there with some good memories of a city that previously I found hard to like.very much.

In contrast, the Welsh mountains were, as always, were simply wonderful and especially so in the September sunshine. Spent one day wandering around Hay on Wye – my most favourite town and time in and out of bookshops is always the very best way of spending time.   No surprise that I have a fresh stock of books to read –found a couple by Barry Unsworth of Sacred Hunger fame ready for any future rainy days and cold evenings.

I’m going to blog next about the books I read while I was travelling …. a task on my list to do this morning but that was occupied with some internet laundry after a fake email from an old account and  some very real laundry after spilling cold tea over a white duvet cover –Ho Hum!!!

All fixed now, so I’m blogging in the sunshine after lots of rain –might go and pull weeds in my neglected garden to end the day.